Russian Soldiers Honored by Cuba Army

Russian Ambassador to Havana Andrei V. Demetriev expressed gratitude to the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) for the homage paid in Havana Friday on the Day of Homeland Defenders, on its 89th anniversary.

The ceremony at the Internationalist Soviet Soldier Memorial in western Havana constitutes an example of the friendship ties between the peoples of Cuba and the peoples of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Demetriev said.

Vice Admiral Pedro M. Perez Betancourt, Chief of the Cuban Revolutionary Navy, evoked the presence of heroic fighters of these republics in Cuba for the defense of the Cuban Revolution.

High level officers and other FAR chiefs attended, together with diplomats and military attaches accredited to Havana from Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other nations.

At rest in the memorial are the remains of 67 soldiers from the former USSR, fallen for different causes during their internationalist mission in Cuba.